It's been more than 20 years since then, and I regularly shop around for better coverage — but I haven't found any yet.

I like the coverage we get for the price, I've found making a claim is easy, and Allstate's teen driver program still makes it a good option for new drivers — I'll be signing my teenage daughter up soon.

I've been with Allstate for my auto insurance since the first day I got my license in 1997, so I'm a long-standing customer of more than 20 years.

I haven't chosen to be with Allstate all these years out of complacency. I diligently do my research almost every year and compare benefits and cost with other prevalent insurance companies to make sure that my choice of staying with Allstate is justified.

But, in the end, Allstate has the best coverage and cost for my and my family's auto insurance needs.

My mom started with Allstate from the time California law required car insurance in order to drive, in 1984. And throughout the years, she's never had a complaint. So, when I started driving, naturally I was added to her insurance policy and quickly realized why she liked Allstate so much.

At 16 years old, I got into my very first accident, only one day after buying my first car. The car was totaled, but luckily I was not injured. However, the other driver was, and I was at fault for making a left turn when she had the right of way. When I called Allstate to make the claim, my mom was afraid it would drop me from the insurance, as some insurance companies do after an accident. But, it didn't.

It took care of everything, which was great, since as a brand new driver, I had no clue where to even start. The company representatives walked me through it with patience and kindness.

I like how much coverage we get for the price

Living in Los Angeles, a high-traffic city, prices can be quite high compared to cities with fewer drivers.

However, our premium cost is offset by a few factors like my husband and me having clean driving records in the last five to seven years, driving older cars (a 2007 Toyota Camry hybrid and a 2008 Nissan Rogue), and limiting our mileage usage every year.

Despite driving older cars and being required only to have liability coverage, we chose to purchase full-coverage policies for both cars and have increased our coverage to cover $100,000 per person, $300,000 for each occurrence, and $200,000 for property damage. The higher coverage protects our home from being included in a liability claim.

We also have a smaller deductible of $500, which raises the price a bit.

With that being said, our current six-month premium for the Toyota is $580.18, or $96.69 per month, while the premium for the Nissan is $573.79, or $95.63 per month.

This is a reasonable cost compared to the high amount of coverage we have in our policy.

Allstate's pricing is competitive with other major insurance carriers and its policies have never failed us. In our experience, the coverage has been exactly as our policy stated. I think skimping on auto insurance is never a good idea. If you go with the cheapest option, chances are that there may be gaps in coverage, a higher deductible, or the insurance company substantially increases your premiums after an accident, or worse, drops you from the policy.

When looking for auto insurance, you want the combination of quality and a reasonable price.

I've found that making a claim is easy

Insurance companies are notorious for treating you well as a customer while you're making your payments, but the real test is when you have to file a claim.

Unfortunately, I've had to file a few claims. Whether the accident was my fault or not, Allstate was always incredibly helpful, understanding and prompt in its resolution process. The company discusses the claim, schedules an inspector to check out the car, and everything is usually resolved in about a week.

While our insurance premium has inevitably increased because of an accident, we never felt that the increase was so high that it was unreasonable.

I like that it encourages teens to maintain good grades with its Smart Student discount and it promotes safe driving by offering TeenSmart Driver education program discount. It also offers tools like DriveWise to help teens practice safe driving and it's developing a new tool called CellControl to promote hands-free and distraction-free driving.

As a teen driver, there is a lot to learn, with insurance being one of the more complex parts. But Allstate helps you understand your policy, so you get the right coverage for your situation.

The entire process is simple and effortless. Personally, Allstate was a great choice for me, and it will be a great choice for my future teen driver.

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Personal Finance Insider team. We occasionally highlight financial products and services that can help you make smarter decisions with your money. We do not give investment advice or encourage you to adopt a certain investment strategy. What you decide to do with your money is up to you. If you take action based on one of our recommendations, we get a small share of the revenue from our commerce partners. This does not influence whether we feature a financial product or service. We operate independently from our advertising sales team.

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